Curb service tray



April 24, 1934 r AL 1,956,060

CURB SERVICE TRAY Original Filed June 15, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 29 J9fldefiZExsx dara Glp? 09 April 24, 1934. E. G. DE FOE ET! AL ,9

CURB SERVICE TRAY ,Onginal Filed June 13, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedApr. 24, 1934 KINETFLE STATES PATENT UFZFEQE CURB SERVICE TRAY Edward G.De Foe, Oak Park, and Carl Bramming,

Chicago, Ill., assigncrs to Red Boy, Inc., Chicago, ill a corpcratien ofDelaware Application June 13, 1932, Serial No. 616,774 Renewed September18, 1.933

7 Glaims. (Cl. 15-51) This invention relates to curb service trays and16 are preferably provided with a cover 1'7, such particularly to traysadapted to serving refreshas rubber, for the purpose of preventingmarring ments to occupants of vehicles, primarily autoof the surfaces ofthe car with which they come mobiles. in contact. Similar pieces ofcovering 18 may 5 This invention relates to trays of the general beapplied upon the bars 12- in order to prevent 65 type described andclaimed in our co-pending apmarring the flat surfaces on which the traysmay plication, Serial No. 588,074, filed January 22, be placed. Upon theprojecting portions of the 1932. bars 13, within the vertical lengths14, are

One of the objects of the invention is to promounted, upon verticalaxes, abutment members vide a tray of this type in which the engaging 19which are preferably formed from flat stock 70 elements, by means ofwhich the tray is hung and lie in a plane parallel to that of the tray.and supported, are located above the bottom of The abutment members 19are pivotally mounte the tray so that the same may be placed on a uponthe bars 13 by means of screws 20, and these table or other surfaceirrespective of the condimembers are directed inwardly towards each 15tion of adjustment of said elements. other in the manner shown in Fig.3. Their in- 75 Another object of the invention is to provide nermostends are turned outwardly away from a tray comprising improved, simpleand effective the tray and are normally nearer the tray than means foradjusting the supporting surface so as are the hooked ends 16. to enablethe tray to be leveled when mounted The abutment members 19 are actuatedby a 20 on an automobile. cam bar 21 which lies in the longitudinaldirec- 0 Further objects, advantages and capabilities of tion of thetray and is provided with longitudinal the invention will appear fromthe following deslots 22 through which pass the screws 20. The scriptionof preferred embodiments thereof, tak heads of the screws 20 engage theupper surface en in conjunction with the accompanying drawof the bar 21on each side of the slots 22 and hold 5 ings, in which it in positionwhile permitting its longitudinal 85 Figure 1 is a perspective view of atray emmovement. The screws 20 have an enlarged stem bodying theinvention; portion which extends through the slots 22 and Fig. 2 is afragmentary View of the tray showthe openings in the ends of theabutment morn. ing the manner in which the same may be mountbars 19. Theextremities of the screws 20 are ed on the window sill of an automobilewindow reduced and threaded, and are thereby mounted 90 of conventionaltype, the view being partly secrigidly upon the bars 13. The bar 21 isprovided tional, the section being taken on the line 22 with cam slots23, both of which are similarly of directed. They are preferablystraight slots 10- Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view partly brocated atan acute angle with respect to longiken away to show the operatingmechanism tudinal direction of the bar 21. The abutment 95 more y;members 19 carry screws 24 which extend through Fig. 4 is a sectionaldetail view taken on the the slots 23 and are provided with enlargedheads line 44 of Fi 3; which engage the surface of the bar 21 on eitherI Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view, partly broside of the slots 23. 40ken away, of a further embodiment of the in- At each end the bar 21 isprovided with an upvention; turned fingerpiece 25 whereby the bar may beFig. 6 is a sectional detail View taken on the moved longitudinally forthe purpose of adjusting line 66 of Fig. 5, and the inclination of thetray. It will readily be Fig. 7 is a sectional detail View taken on theunderstood from Fig. 3 that if the bar 21 is line 77 of Fig. 5. pushedtowards the left the abutment members Referring to the drawings, andparticularly to 19 are projected outwardly, whereas if the bar 21 Figs.1 to 4, the tray 10 is preferably rectanguis moved towards the right theabutment memlar in form and is provided around its perimeter bers 19 aremoved inwardly. with a rim 11 which may be of ar'cuate form as Inoperation, the hooked ends 16 are engaged shown in Fig. 2, or may be ofany other desired upon any suitable part of the automobile. For 116shape. The edge of the rim 11 is rolled into example, they may be passedthrough the opena bead 12. Two straps 13 are secured to the uning 26normally present between the glass pane derside of the tray 10, forexample by welding. 27 and the trim 28 of the conventional automo- Thesestraps project beyond one side of the tray bile window. The abutmentmembers 19 having and are turned upwardly to provide vertical been firstmoved inwardly, the tray is held level lengths 14 and outwardly toprovide horizontal by hand and the cam bar 25 is actuated so as tolengths 15. The extremities of the straps are bring the projecting ends29 of the abutment turned downwardly, and preferably a little inmemberinto engagement with the inner wall of wardly, to provide hooked ends16. the door in the manner shown in Fig. 2. The

so The horizontal lengths 15 and the hooked ends ends 29 may be providedwith a covering of rubher or the like to avoid marring the surface ofthe automobile with which they come in contact. The extreme positions ofthe ends 29, of the abutment members 19 are indicated by dotted lines inFig. 3. In Fig. 2 dot-and-dash lines are employed to indicate the degreeof movement or" the ends of the abutment members 19 in relation to thetray. From this figure it is clear that a movement equivalent to theangle is permitted so that the tray may be adjusted into horizontalposition notwithstanding that the position of the door may depart fromthe vertical by a substantial angle. The adjustment of the abutmentmembers 19 also permits the tray to be em ployed in different locationsand with different makes of automobiles, while still obtaining thedesired horizontal adjustment of the tray.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 5, 6 and '7 issubstantially similar to that described above, with the exception of themeans for actuating the abutment members 19. Accordingly, similar partsare identified by the same reference numerals and the actuating meanswill now be described.

In this embodiment the straps 13 are provided adjacent the verticallength 14. with lugs 31 upon which the abutment members 19 are pivotallymounted, for example by means of rivets 32. The bars 13 are alsoprovided with upturned lugs 33 which serve as bearings and supports foran actuating rod 34. The actuating rod 3 is provided at each end with aknurled button 35 whereby it may be rotated in either direction. The rod3% is held against longitudinal movement by thrust collars 36 which arerigidly mounted thereon and which bear on either side of the lugs 33.Inside the lugs 33 the rod 34 is provided with threaded portions 37 uponwhich are mounted nut elements 38. These nut elements 38 comprisedovmwardly projecting portions 39 which extend into slots 40 provided inrearwardly directed extensions 41 of the abutment members 19. The nutelements 38 are held against rotation and the projections 39 are heldwithin the slots 40 by means of washers 42 secured to the lower ends ofthe projections 39 and adapted to bear on the under side of theextensions 41.

It will readily be understood that by turning the buttons 35 in onedirection the nut elements 38 are moved towards each other, while byturning them in the opposite direction the nut elements 38 are caused tomove apart. In the first instance the projecting ends 29 of the abutmentmembers 19 are moved outwardly, while in the second instance they aremoved inwardly.

The operation of this embodiment of the invention is substantiallysimilar to the embodiment above described, that is the tray is mountedby the hooked ends 16 in desired position. The tray is held level by thehand and one of the knurled buttons 35 is rotated in the appropriatedirection to bring the ends 29 or" the abutment members 19 into contactwith the wall of the door or other surface.

It will be noticed that in both modifications all the operating parts,whereby the tray is hung and supported, are located above the lowerfaces of the bars 13 so that the trays may be laid upon flat surfaceswithout danger of scratching and marring them.

While the improved tray is intended primarily for employment in mountingon automobiles, it will be understood that it is not intended to limitthe invention thereto, since the trays may be mounted in otherlocations.

Although the invention has been disclosed in connection with the secific details of perierred embodiments thereof, it must be understoodthat such details are not intended to be liinitative of the inventionexcept in so far as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination, a tray, hooks rigidly secured thereto and projectingbeyond one side of the tray, arms pivotally mounted on the tray onvertical axes and projecting outwardly towards said side, and adjustablemeans operable to change the amount of projection of said arms.

2. In combination, a tray, hooks rigidly secured thereto and projectingbeyond one side of the tray, arms pivotally mounted on the tray onvertical axes and projecting outwardly towards said side, and cam meansadapted to change the amount of projection of said arms.

3. In combination, a tray, hooks rigidly secured thereto and projectingbeyond one side of the tray, arms pivotally mounted on the tray onvertical axes and projecting outwardly towards said side, andlongitudinally 'slidable cam means adapted to change the amount ofprojection'of said arms.

l. In combination, a tray, hooks rigidly secured thereto and projectingbeyond one side of the tray, arms pivotally mounted on the tray onvertical axes and projecting outwardly towards said side, and rotatablemeans adapted to change the amount of projection of said arms.

5. In combination, a tray, straps secured to the underside of the trayprojecting therebeyond, the projecting ends being turned downwardly toprovide hooks, arms pivotally mounted on said straps on vertical axes,said an. s being directed outwardly in the same direction as said hooks,and a bar mounted on said straps and adapted to slide in thelongitudinal direction, said bar being provided with cam surfacesadapted to engage said arms and control their movements on their axes.6. In combination, a tray, straps secured to the underside thereof andprojecting beyond one side of the tray, the projecting extremities beingformed into hooks, a bar rotatably mounted on said straps, said barbeing provided with threaded portions, nut elements secured againstrotation mounted on said threaded portions, and arms pivotally mountedon said straps on vertical axes and adapted to swing outwardly. in thesame direction as the hooks, said arms being engaged by said nutelements whereby the swinging of the arms may be effected by therotation oi the bar.

7. In combination, a tray, hooks carried by the tray and projectingbeyond one side of the tray, an arm pivotally mounted on the tray on avertical axis and projecting outwardly towards said side, and adjustablemeans operable to change the amount of projection of said arm.

EDWARD G. DE FOE. CARL BRAMMING.

